High performance alloys can be used in relatively severe environments to provide enhanced mechanical properties, such as high strength, creep resistance, and oxidation resistance. For example, such alloys are dispersion-strengthened and include a metallic matrix with a second phase of oxide, nitride, or carbide dispersed uniformly throughout the matrix.
One technique for fabricating dispersion-strengthened alloys is milling. Milling involves ball milling a metal feedstock powder and reinforcement phase particles to incorporate the reinforcement phase particles into the metal powder. The reinforcement phase particles are generally not soluble in the base metal. Long times are needed to achieve an appropriate dispersion and process control agents are often needed to limit agglomeration. The agents must later be removed, the resulting particles are irregularly-shaped, and there is also difficulty in achieving consistency from batch-to-batch.